it creeps in
seeping softly into
the dark
slowly building
eroding the sharpened
edges of my
armor
sanding down
the callouses
created from
the barbed borders
I’ve made for
myself

it is warm and
sweet
gliding over me
the angst ebbing
with each
carefully composed note

thick and deep
rumbling through
the internal
minefield
disengaging
self-strung traps
rendering each hate-filled
weapon
useless
in its wake

the soft chime
of something ancient
but somehow
new
widening and lengthening
until it is ringing
through my mind
colliding with its
fellow
bass and treble
lovers in between the
lines
made wholesome
by the purity
of their goal

it scrubs me free
of rumination
oiling my mind for
wonder and mirth
taking its time
with me
as any good master
should

I am fluid and arch
inside its stanzas
beautiful in a way
I may never feel
elsewhere
and when the lyrics
begin
I unfold completely

ready and waiting